And it all culminates with tonight’s 63rd All-Star Game here at the Smoothie King Center. From the kicking player intro concert from Pharrell Williams, Nelly, Diddy and Busta Rhymes to all the action that will follow from LeBron James, Kevin Durant and the fellas from the Eastern and Western Conference squads, we should be in store for a relentless night of action.

Dig in with us all night here for the best tweets, notes and observations from the festivities right here.

— My main man and Hang Time Podcast partner Rick Fox of NBA TV is all over the style scene down here in New Orleans. Check him out while wait for this game to start … (Pharrell is almost as tall as Rick with that hat on)

— You wonder why the stars from nearly every walk of life turn out and turn up for NBA All-Star Weekend … you’ve been watching it since the opening tip. These guys are the best and most jaw-dropping athletes on the planet, IMO. Nothing like seeing these guys work like this.

— You know why I love Joakim Noah? Because any other guy would concede a that layup to Durant. But not Noah.

— Sitting here having a wild chat with NBA.com’s John Schuhmann and Leigh Ellis of The Starters and we’re trying to figure out if the U.S. sent two teams to international competition could they win gold and silver? I say yes. Think of the preposterous depth they have on the Men’s Senior National Team. It could happen.

An All-Star record seventh 3-pointer for Carmelo Anthony. He has 27 points.